i'm trying to do the front mount oil cooler conversion on my 83fb...and looking for the info/write-up on it....

 

Not sure there is any official writeup, its pretty simple, the only things to consider are the following:

1. parts list:
-79-82 short radiator w/shroud
-79-82 oil cooler with mounts
-oil cooler lines
-oil filter pedastal
-hard water line (passenger side of engine bay, from heater to rad)
-don't forget the misc crush washers and o rings you'll need plus any nuts/bolts etc

2. There are 2 "T" shaped coolant fittings that need to be dealt with. One is on the hard line, you'll replace the hard line with the 79-82 one so that takes care of that, the other is right below the beehive, it supplies, via hoses, the beehive itself and the heater. You'll either need to plug one of the outlets (since the beehive will be gone this pipe only needs to supply the heater) or you can cut the T off, making sure to leave enough pipe exposed to sufficiently clamp a hose onto. I cut the T off on both my 83's, and it works fine, so just cut it off.

3. The final advise I can give would to just be careful removing the beehive, its a pain in the *** messy job, and the oil line's banjo bolt (on the back of the beehive) can be hard to remove. Its also easy to mess up that same oil line where it goes onto the front cover, assuming you're gonna toss it thats no biggie, but be careful not to messup the fitting since it must be reused.

hope that helps, its really not a bad job, good excuse to replace you're coolant hoses, might as well get a new thermostat while you have the system drained too. Good luck
Sean

 

I left my beehive oil cooler intact and attached a T fitting to the oil pressure sending unit and fed oil via premade hydraulic hoses to a FC oil cooler mounted just in front of my rad and returning the oil directly to the oilpan.

 

interesting take on it, but I fail to see how thats easier, or how its a solution to the main problem. As far as I see it the main problem trying to be solved is getting rid of the highly inefficient and leak prone beehive. Leaving it on and adding another cooler (not to mention tapping into the pan and feed line) needlessly complicates the whole system. Sorry if i come off sounding like an ***, your setup is certainly unique, but it just doesn't seem logical to me....

 

The reason I did it this way is to provide cool oil directly to my turbo and I'm also not keen at mucking around with something that is still working (ie beehive).

 

what about aftermarket front mount coolers. anyone try one of those?

 

I've heard not to trust any aftermarket coolers and that Mazda oil coolers are the most efficient at reducing temps.

 

yea, Mazda only, others are too small to handle the rotaries heat. oh and Jim, I must have misread something, it makes sense why you hooked it up the way you did to me now, cool stuff.

 

i plan on doing something similar to what Jim did except wothout having to tap into pan. I will connect a hose from front cover where hard line was and run to oil cooler and then from oil cooler outlet run a hose to where the hard line connected to housing. no drilling needed just new hoses and brackets. plus the beehive can stay intact since mine works fine.